Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an awareness programme to protect primary and secondary school children from rape gang abuse.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Schools and colleges have a critical role to play in protecting children and keeping them safe.

The department has an established robust safeguarding framework in place in the form of ‘Keeping children safe in education’, which is the statutory safeguarding guidance that all schools and colleges must have regard to.

Part 1 of this guidance, which should be read by all staff who work directly with children, not only sets out the different types of abuse and harm but also makes clear that all staff should receive safeguarding training, know how to recognise abuse and know what to do if they have any concerns about a child.

The department keeps the guidance under regular review to see where it needs strengthening and to ensure it is reflective of emerging risks and issues in safeguarding.

Pupils are taught about rape, exploitation and abuse as part of compulsory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). The RSHE statutory guidance is also clear that schools should provide pupils with the knowledge they need to recognise and report abuse, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

The department is currently reviewing the statutory RSHE curriculum to ensure it covers all relevant content relating to sexual violence.